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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Tuesday Treats: Lexy Casano

I feel like for this week's Tuesday Treats, I should write nothing and you should just click on these links and listen. You'll get the gist. But, I'll take a moment to gush here about the undeniably talented, beautiful, and magnetic, sexy, Lexy Casano. Lexy is not only an amazingly gifted singer, perhaps one of the most loving and joyful people I have ever met, but she is also a mother to a beautiful baby boy, happily married to her wife, Jessica, and a postpartum depression survivor.

Lexy is a professionally trained singer who first began taking lessons professionally her freshman year of high school under the guidance, support, and tutelage of famed NYC Operatic Soprano, Frances Pallozzi Wittman. Along with being a complete inspiration for Lexy, Pallozzi taught Lexy everything she knows about singing, performing, and most importantly, breathing. Lexy had aspirations to be a pop-star and believed with a degree from the esteemed and highly selective Berklee College of Music she could make that happen...but her grades were terrible. However, her voice and dynamic performance proved so strong they accepted Lexy on a two year probation and four years later, Lexy was a proud Berklee graduate. She subsequently moved to the big apple and pounded the pavement to become a pop star like her idol, Mariah Carey. She blew through her savings, recorded a demo, but still, rent in NYC is no joke. You gotta pay the bills. Lexy found herself working in childcare and before long drawn to education. She packed up her pop star dreams, moved into the field of early education and became a teacher.

Lexy was the first to inform me of the Berklee myth that "if you graduate from Berklee, you'll never make it." John Mayer was in Lexy's class, however he dropped out after two semesters, and well...you know the rest of that story. But, I for one, would much rather pay for a ticket to a Lexy Casano concert then a John Mayer concert, any day. And for a while, I could see Lexy for free.

So, here's where I ask, Lexy, why now? Why raise money for an album now? Lexy's answer, "Plenty of artists have started their career in their 30s!" But the truth is, Lexy is now in her second awakening. Lexy is a mama. After weathering a difficult journey to get pregnant, then surviving an extremely difficult pregnancy, and a labor that was so horrendous she actually needed a blood transfusion, the moment Lexy left the hospital with her baby, she found herself in a panic and soon a downward spiral into a severe depression. As Lexy put it, "Im the kind of person that when I know I need help, I scream for it." She was quickly put on anti-deressants and a medication for anxiety but for many months, the darkness was overwhelming. During this time, people kept telling Lexy, "You gotta start singing again." After months of pushing, Lexy agreed to perform at the Black Duck and after singing herself through the performance, for the first time she felt more like herself than she had in a long time.

The road out of postpartum depression did not end there. Lexy still struggled with feeling her music. But a year later, Lexy has emerged, stronger and better than ever.

"I feel like, Lexy died," she laughed, "No seriously, and now I'm back and better than ever. This is the new me." And, I must say, Lexy, its nice to have you back!

When I asked Lexy if motherhood and surviving a difficult transition into motherhood perhaps helped fuel or inspire the art she wants to create now, her quick answer was, "Absolutely. When you go through something like that, the little things just don't matter. Having survived that year, I feel more confident now than ever and having Romeo (her beautiful boy) I can see life with this third eye." She went on to talk about taking joy in having a "regular life" but also finding idols like Eve Cassidy , who don't have the pomp and circumstance that come with Mariah Carey, but does have the soul, the love and the passion for an art that Lexy feels is not only her way of expressing herself, but empowering herself.

And here's where I tell you, the www.rewindrevise.com reader, to support this kick-ass artist and back this project. Help Lexy make her dream come true. How can you do that? Just check out this kickstarter page and pledge ANY amount of money. No amount is too small. In the meantime, I leave you with this...